The Affair of the Egyptian Sorcerer
The Affair of the Egyptian Sorcerer was a short story written by W. E. Johns on the eve of the Second World War and which was first published in Pearson's Magazine in November 1939. The story was subsequently gathered and published as the first story in the anthology Dr. Vane Answers the Call by Latimer House in November 1950. In the anthology, this story is preceded by The Affair at Dulwich and followed by The Affair at Dawkin's Wharf. Synopsis The is reports that an uprising is about to break out in Egypt. The revolutionaries there appear to be waiting for the arrival of an item from Britain. Ludlow is baffled but hesitates to assign the case to Dr Vane. Would Egyptian antiquities really fall within the scope of his knowledge? Ludlow decides to turn to Vane anyway. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Major Ludlow is trouble by a dossier from Delaney, a British counter-intelligence officer operating in Egypt. There are reports of a impending revolt in Egypt organised by a secret society of students. The leader, Abdullah Sitensu, had found a part of a scarab belonging to the sorcerer Semensert, at Tel-el-Amarnah. The organisation gained impetus with the arrival of an unknown object from England. They revolutionaries were awaiting the arrival of yet another unknown object from England, which would be a signal for the revolt to start. Major Ludlow is not certain this puzzle falls within Dr Vane's expertise but consults him anyway. Vane notes that Tel-el-Amarnah was the new capital of Egypt established by Amenhetep IV. He was known as a great reformer. An artefact from there would have great symbolic significance to a revolution. Vane decides to turn to the experts and they call on Professor Challis-Brown at the British Museum. He shows them a part of a scarab found at Tel-el-Amarnah belonging to Semensert. On closer examination, the Professor realises the object is a fake. Someone appears to have stolen the original! He tells them he had recently sent a photograph of the scarab to one Sitensu who had requested it for research purposes. Challis-Brown tells them the fragments of the message on the scarab: they speak of "uprising in truth", "smiting the stranger", "while his bones dwell", "make ready upon the" and "smite". They next view the mummy of Semensert. Vane recalls the superstition attached to the mummy: the finders and the ships transporting the mummy to England had all run into various misfortunes. Vane explains the puzzle to Ludlow. The fragment of scarab from the British Museum has been stolen and reunited with another piece which Sitensu found at Tel-el-Amarnah. Sitensu has understood the message. His next target must be to steal the mummy of Semensert and return it to Egypt. For "while his bones dwell" there, the revolutionaries would have power to smite strangers and overthrow foreign domination in the country. Dr Vane consults the Times. A ship, the Ramses was due to depart for Alexandria the next day. He reasons that the thieves might strike that very night. Ludlow goes off to continue his investigations and finds that indeed, Sitensu is missing from his lodgings in Egypt, and that five people with Egyptian names had booked passages on the Ramses. Vane tells him to leave them be. Vane and Ludlow's options are limited. To lock up the mummy means the thieves would try again. To destroy the mummy would be political controversial and have even worse consequences. Vane suggests using psychology. Vane asks Ludlow to wait through the night in an alcove behind a curtain in the room where the mummy was laid. Whatever he saw, he must do nothing. True enough, late in the night, Ludlow sees three figures approaching the mummy. Then the mummy sits up! There is a low monotonous voice speaking in a foreign language, The three men begin to sob and beat their foreheads. Then a confederate lowers a rope through the skylight and they escape. Ludlow comes out and the mummy speaks to him: it's Dr Vane! He had disguised himself as the mummy and had told the thieves that what they were planning to do was disrespectful and presumptuous and that they were to return the scarab. The crisis over, Ludlow confesses he needs a drink. Semensert's coffin cover gave him the creeps. Oh but that's his imagination, Dr Vane chides. The cover was only a copy. The original had been sold to America and had gone down in the Titanic. Characters *Dr Augustus Vane *Major Ludlow *Delaney *Abdullah Sitensu *Georgette *Professor Challis-Brown *Semensert Aircraft No aircraft occur in this story Ships *''Ramses'' *''Titanic'' Places Visited Research Notes Publication History *Collected in Dr. Vane Answers the Call, Latimer House, 1950 *Collected in Dr. Vane Answers the Call, Norman Wright, 2005 References External Links Category:Short stories Category:Dr Vane short stories Category:Adult short stories